Finding the Faith of Our Heroes - Abraham and Sarah
Hebrews 11:8-16
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - March 25, 2009
*Everybody has faith. Everybody has faith in something. James Merritt explains:
-An atheist drinks water out of a faucet, believing it is safe.
-He drives his car in freeway traffic, believing the brakes work.
-He submits to the surgeon's knife, believing that the doctor knows what he is doing.
*But there is a big difference between that faith and Bible faith. The quality of faith depends on the objects on which it rests. You see, the water might actually be poison, the brakes could fail; the surgeon can make a mistake. But we put our faith in a God who cannot lie, a God who cannot fail, and a God who never changes. (1)
*In Mark 11:22, Jesus tells us, "Have faith in God," and of course we should. Hopefully, we will have more and more faith in God. But why is faith necessary? Why is faith so important in my life?
1. FIRST, FAITH MAKES ME A FRIEND OF GOD (vs. 8-9)
*James 2:23 tells us "'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.' And he was called the friend of God." Here is an amazing truth: The God of the whole universe wants you to be His friend!
*God wants to have a personal relationship with you. But faith is the only way we can have this personal relationship with God. In vs. 8&9, Abraham shows us the essence of this faith relationship:
8. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would afterward receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;
*God calls -- we listen. God leads -- we follow. Why? -- Because we trust in the Lord God. All good relationships are built on a foundation of trust, and nobody is more worthy of our trust than God! In Revelation 5 John saw a vision of the multitudes in Heaven singing about Jesus:
9. And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10. and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.''
11. Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,
12. saying with a loud voice: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!''
*Jesus Christ is worthy of our trust! And wonder of wonders, He wants to have a relationship with me! Jesus wants you to be His friend.
*Rick Warren got to go to China in 2000, and their team met with the professors at Peking University, a school with 50,000 students. It's the Harvard of China. Every communist leader in China is educated there.
*After the meeting they took the number two leader of the university out to lunch. His name was Joe, and he had been a math professor there for 50 years. They began to talk and Rick discovered that Joe was dying of a brain tumor. At that time, Rick's dad was also dying of cancer. So he said, "Professor Joe, my dad is dying of cancer, but he's not afraid to die, because he's made his peace with God. He knows where he's going when he dies."
*Then Rick began to tell him a story about a man who took his son and his son's three best friends to the carnival. Dad bought a roll of tickets, and at each ride, he would give a free ticket to his son and his three best friends. Then they would move on to the next ride. But at the fifth ride, he looked down and there was a new little hand sticking out for every ticket.
*Dad looked down at this little kid and asked, "Who are you?"
-The kid said, "I'm your son's new best friend; and he said that if I was his friend, his father would give me a free ticket."
*Then the dad said, "You think I gave him a ticket? You bet I did."
*And Rick said. "Professor Joe, your Heavenly Father, God, has a ticket for you to heaven. It is a free ticket. You can't earn it. You can't buy it. You'll never deserve it. It is free. The only way you'll get it is by being a friend of His Son, Jesus Christ."
*Warren looked over at this man who had been on the staff of the leading institution in China for 50 years. With trembling lips and tears coming down his face, that professor said, "I would like one of those tickets."
*Right there they held hands, and that professor invited Jesus Christ into his life. By faith, he became a friend of God. (2)
2. WHY IS FAITH SO IMPORTANT IN MY LIFE? BECAUSE FAITH MAKES ME A FRIEND OF GOD. BUT FAITH ALSO MOVES ME TO FOLLOW GOD'S CALL.
*God is going to call you to go to new places in life. We also see this in vs. 8-9:
8. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would afterward receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;
*God calls all of His people to new places in life. Sometimes they will be wonderful places filled with beauty and excitement -- new friends, new adventures. Other times God will call you to strange places, hard places, places you don't want to be, places you never expected to be.
*How will you get the courage to go forward? -- By faith.
*Stephen Funderburk tells a great story about faith overcoming fear, and he started this way: "God anchors us to a rock -- one of the greatest things that God does in our lives is anchor us to Him. We are no longer tossed and turned; we are no longer driven by the winds. When waves hit our house, our house stands because it has a rock foundation. We feel secure in Him, we have stability."
*Then Stephen gave this testimony: "A young lady was flying to be on the Oprah show to talk about living life in fear. A local television group was interviewing her as she left. At the end of the interview, I walked up to her and her husband and said, 'You can be secure, you can be safe, in Christ alone. I am flying out of this airport today, and I will arrive back in Montgomery, Alabama or I will arrive in heaven. Either way I am sheltered in the arms of God.'
*Her husband got saved on the spot. They got involved in a local church. And they sent me a letter telling how they were working in a local youth group and felt a call to youth ministry." (3)
*That young couple found the faith that can overcome all our fears, and by faith they followed God's call.
3. WHY IS FAITH SO IMPORTANT IN MY LIFE? BECAUSE FAITH HELPS ME FOLLOW GOD TO NEW PLACES IN LIFE. BUT FAITH ALSO TAKES A FIRM GRIP ON THE INFINITE POWER OF GOD.
*God has the power to do the impossible in your life. We see His infinite power in vs. 11-12:
11. By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.
12. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
*How did that happen? It was a miracle, plain and simple. And it was a small thing for God to do, because all things are possible with God!
*The wonderful background to this story is found in Genesis 17:1-8.
1. When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
2. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.''
3. Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying:
4. "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.
5. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.
6. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.
7. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.
8. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.''
*Then God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and starting in vs. 15:
15. Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.
16. And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.''
17. Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?''
18. And Abraham said to God, "Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!''
19. Then God said: "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.
20. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
21. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.''
22. Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
*Did Abraham believe at first? No -- He fell on his face laughing in disbelief, because both he and Sarah were way too old to have children. Sarah laughed too. In Genesis 18:9-15 the Lord appeared again and God's friend Abraham invited the Lord and His angels to stay for dinner.
9. Then they said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?'' And he said, "Here, in the tent.''
10. And He said, "I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.'' And Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.
11. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
12. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?''
13. And the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, `Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?'
14. Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.''
15. But Sarah denied it, saying, "I did not laugh,'' for she was afraid. And He said, "No, but you did laugh!''
*Of course God knew that both of them were going to laugh. That's why back in Genesis 17, God told Abraham to name his new son Isaac -- It means "laughter." At first neither Abraham nor Sarah believed God, because what He promised them seemed too good to be true. But then they realized that nothing is too hard for the Lord, -- so they believed. And when little Isaac was born, they must have laughed again, overflowing with joy that God had done the impossible in their lives!
*But we must understand that it was by faith. Again, Heb 11:11 says, "By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed." The word picture is "taking a firm grip on something." Sarah took a firm grip on the infinite power of God and the unbreakable promise of God. Therefore, "she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised."
*God wants to do things in our lives that are too good to be true. God wants to do the impossible in our lives, and He can do it, because all things are possible with God. But all of these things must be received by faith.
4. WHY IS FAITH SO IMPORTANT IN MY LIFE? BECAUSE FAITH TAKES A FIRM GRIP ON THE INFINITE POWER OF GOD. BUT FAITH ALSO KNOWS THAT GOD WILL FULFILL HIS PROMISES.
*God has made hundreds of His promises to you and me. But many times we have to wait on the Lord to see those promises fulfilled. Faith is willing to wait. Faith takes God at His Word, trusting that He can and will do what He says He will do. This is the main point God makes to us in vs. 9-10:
9. By faith (Abraham) sojourned in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;
10. for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
*God's Word makes the same point in vs. 13-16:
13. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.
15. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.
16. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
*God always keep Him promises, but many times we will have to wait on the Lord. And how can we do that? -- By faith -- only by faith.
*When I get discouraged, I have often been renewed by one of the heroes of our faith. His name was Allen Gardiner, and he was one of God's faithful missionaries in the early 1800's. Allen went through many physical difficulties and hardships as he served the Lord. But Allen said, "While God gives me strength, failure will not (overwhelm) me."
*In 1851, he died of disease and starvation while serving on Picton Island at the southern tip of South America. Allen was 57. When his body was found, his diary laid nearby. It contained a record of hunger, thirst, injuries, and loneliness. The last entry in Allen's little book showed the tremble of his shaking hand as he tried to write legibly. But with all of his suffering and all of his hardship, here are the last words he wrote: "I am overwhelmed with a sense of the goodness of God." (4)
*I read that and his faith blows me away, because I have been so pampered in my life. Allen Gardiner repeatedly went to South America. He even gave his life trying to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to the lost people of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. He died of starvation without seeing a single soul saved. But the South American Missionary Society he founded has been sending missionaries and winning souls for over 150 years. (5)
*We must be willing to wait on the Lord! -- And by faith, we can.
1. Adapted from ChristianGlobe.com sermon "You've Gotta Believe" by James Merritt - Hebrews 11:1-40
2. Adapted from Forty Days of Purpose - Week 6 by Rick Warren
3. Adapted from SermonCentral sermon "God of Wonderful Change" by Stephen Funderburk - Psalms 40:1-3
4. Found at SermonIllustrations.com - GOD, goodness of
5. Source unknown
